Indian Women’s Cricket League: Prominent players with records in T20 cricket
Indian Women’s Cricket League is an upcoming cricket league in India, which is scheduled to take from 4th March to 26th March 2023. The inaugural edition of the tournament will take place in two venues in Mumbai – Brabourne Stadium and DY Patil Stadium. Five teams, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, and UP will participate in the first season of the Indian Women’s Cricket League.
All five franchises have signed top players at the auction for the inaugural edition of the Indian Women’s Cricket League. S. Mandhana, A. Gardener, N. Sciver, B. Mooney, H. Kaur, and S. Devine are some of the players that have been picked by the franchises ahead of the Indian Women’s Cricket League. However, there are certain prominent players who have managed to fetch good prices at the auction based on their records in Women’s T20 cricket. Who are these players who are holding several records in the T20 format?
The top players with the best records in T20 Cricket
B. Mooney:
B. Mooney is regarded as one of the best batters in women’s T20 cricket. The Gujarat team recently bought Mooney for the inaugural edition of IWCL. Mooney represents Australia’s women’s team in International cricket. She made her maiden international appearance for Australia in a T20I match against India in January 2016. That year, B. Mooney was signed by Brisbane Heat for the second season of the Women’s Big Big Bash League. In 2017, Mooney scored her maiden T20I century against England in Australia. The following year, she played a match-winning knock of 65 off 45 balls to help Brisbane Heat win the maiden Women’s BBL title. After spending four seasons with Brisbane Heat, she moved to Perth Scorchers for the 2020-21 WBBL season.
Major Records
- B. Mooney holds the record for the most runs in a single edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup. She aggregated 259 runs in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2020, surpassing Meg Lanning’s record of 257 in the 2014 edition of the tournament.
- She holds the record for the fastest player to score 2000 runs in Women’s T20I history. Mooney achieved the feat during the second T20I between India and Australia at DY Patil Stadium in December 2022.
- In November 2020, B. Mooney became the first player to amass 3000 runs in the history of the Women’s Big Bash League. She was in a race with fellow Australian player Ellyse Perry to achieve the feat.
- B. Mooney is currently the leading run-scorer in the Women’s Big Bash League, aggregating 4108 runs, including two centuries and 36 fifties, at an average of 46.68 in 117 matches.
S. Mandhana
S. Mandhana is considered one of the women cricketers in the modern era. She was bought by the Bengaluru team for a record 3.4 crore at the auction for the inaugural edition of the Indian Women’s Cricket League. Mandhana has been representing India at the international level since 2013. Mandhana achieved a career breakthrough when she became the first woman player to score a double century in a one-day match in 2013. That year, S. Mandhana made her debut for India in a T20I match against Bangladesh. In 2016, she was signed by Brisbane Heat and became one of the two Indian players to be signed up for WBBL. After the 2016-17 season with Brisbane, Mandhana moved to Hobart Hurricanes for the 2017-18 WBBL season. In the 2021-22 season, she played for Sydney Thunder.
Major Records:
- S. Mandhana holds the record for most fifties by an Indian player in the history of Women’s T20Is. She scored 20 fifties in the shortest format, the first and only Indian woman cricketer to do so.
- Mandhana is the second-fastest Indian player to score 2000 runs in the Women’s T20Is. She achieved the feat during the second T20I between India and Sri Lanka in Dambulla in June 2022.
- S. Mandhana shattered her record for the fastest fifty by an Indian player in a Women’s T20I match, taking just 25 balls in the opening match of the Tri-Nation T20I series against England.
- She has the second-most number of runs by an Indian woman player in a T20I calendar year. Madhana scored 622 T20I runs in 2018, behind Harmanpreet Kaur with 683 runs.
- In September 2021, S. Mandhana became the first Indian player to score a century in a foreign T20 league. She achieved the feat during his unbeaten 114-run knock against Melbourne Renegades in the WBBL.
S. Devine
S. Devine is considered one of the best all-rounders in Women’s cricket. She has been representing New Zealand in international cricket since 2006. Devine was bought by the Bengaluru team for the inaugural edition of IWCL. Devine was just 17 years old when she received her first national call-up in 2006. In the same year, S. Devine made her T20I debut against Australia. In February 2020, Devine notched up his maiden T20I century against South Africa. In July 2022, she has scalped her 100th T20I wicket against South Africa. Devine also played in Women’s T20 leagues, especially WBBL. She made her WBBL debut with Adelaide in 2016. Devine is now playing for Perth since the 2020-21 WBBL season.
Major Records:
Devine holds the record for the fastest fifty in the history of Women’s T20Is. She achieved the feat during New Zealand vs India in 2015, taking just 18 balls to reach a half-century.
- She holds the record for the most consecutive fifties in the history of T20Is (male or female). Devine has scored 50 and above in six consecutive T20I matches. The streak began on 10th February 2019 and ended on 27th February 2020.
- S. Devine is the only player to score 2000 runs and take 100 wickets in the Women’s T20Is. She has scored 2966 runs and picked 110 wickets so far.
- In January 2021, S. Devine shattered the record for the fastest century in Women’s T20 history. She scored a century in just 36 balls in a domestic T20 tournament.
H. Kaur
H. Kaur is one of the best batters and current captain of the Indian women’s team. She was bought by Mumbai for the inaugural edition of the Indian Women’s Cricket League. Hailing from the Moga district of Punjab, Kaur has been representing India at the international level since 2009. In June 2009, she made her T20I debut against England Women at the Women’s T20 World Cup. In 2016, Kaur became the first Indian player to be signed by a foreign T20 franchise when she was bought by the Sydney team for WBBL 2016-17 season. In 2018, H. Kaur notched up her maiden T20I century against New Zealand at the Women’s T20 World Cup. In 2021, after spending three seasons with Sydney (2016-17 to 2018-19), Kaur was signed by Melbourne Renegades for the 2021-22 WBBL season.
Major Records
- H. Kaur is the leading run-scorer for India’s Women’s team in the T20Is, aggregating 2993 runs, including a century and 9 fifties, at an average of 27.97 in 149 matches. She is set to become the first Indian batswoman to score 3000 T20I runs.
- She is the only Indian woman player to record a century in the T20Is. Moreover, Kaur is the fourth fastest player to score a century in the Women’s T20Is, achieving the feat in the match against New Zealand at the Women’s T20 World Cup.
- Kaur holds the record for most runs by an Indian player in a foreign T20 league. She has amassed 1119 runs, including six fifties, at an average of 41.44 in 48 WBBL matches.
